Rumor has it that the much awaited Lady Gaga Glee episode will air May 25! This particular episode features two popular Lady Gaga songs along with her very well known outrageous costumes. Not only did Lady Gaga give Glee permission to use her songs but she also loaned out her costumer! Ryan Murphy, Glee boss, states “Her person made our costumes. It’s, I think, our most expensive number because the set is crazy and the costumes are crazy.” Murphy says Lea will do a “very stripped-down version” of Gaga’s hit “Poker Face,” while the whole crew will come together for a huge performance of “Bad Romance.”

Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina, who’s sporting our acrylic ornament balls) announces her character may be the motivation for Glee to go Gaga. “Tina in the Gaga episode has a little bit of a problem expressing herself,” Jenna comments. “She gets in trouble for the way she dresses. So she has to go through a little bit of a change for a little while. And therefore you will see some Gaga in there. She’s slowly coming out of her box. Making her way out of her shell.”

Hello Gleeks! I know we are all excited for the return of Glee after its four month absence in our lives (I know I am)! For those who are not too familiar with the new Fox hit show (which won the 2010 Golden Globe Award for best television series), Glee is an American musical comedy drama that centers around an Ohio high school, where an optimistic teacher recruits a group of misfit students and is determined to lift the schools glee club called “New Directions” to great glory.

Our beloved show, Glee, returns to Fox on April 13th and they have now confirmed that they will perform Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance and Poker Face in an upcoming episode. Lady Gaga is to become the latest star guest on the hit TV show “Glee.” Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee, says, “We reached out to Lady Gaga and she said, ‘Yes, I’d love to be a part of it.’ So we will be doing Lady Gaga this season.” The character, Rachel, played by Lea Michele will perform her own version of the hit song “Poker Face” and it has been described as “stripped down.” The cast will take on the hit “Bad Romance” while wearing a wardrobe that even resembles some of Lady Gaga’s more outrageous outfits.

It has been said that Fox has spared no expense on the wardrobe as they have sent their cast to the same tailor that makes Lady Gaga’s outfits. One of the outfits being the outlandish and very memorable bubble dress made of our acrylic ornaments, which was first seen at Boston’s House of Blues for the T-Mobile Sidekick Grammy Celebration Concert. So everyone set your DVR’s to record this much needed and very exciting episode of Glee!

On March 20, 2010 Creative Candles is sponsoring a community workshop with our friend Eddie Ross. Those participating will create unique looking, personal monogram etched, glass hurricanes. These will feature 3×6 hand poured candles from Creative Candle. We have provided the hurricane and etching supplies to assist those involved. These “hurricanes” will be a uniquely etched glass cylinder on-top of an antique plate, a combination sure to be a truly unique centerpiece! Some of proceeds from the event will be given to DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS).

In America’s Best Dance Crew (Season 5; episode 6) there were seven remaining crews that performed the moves and fashion of hit songs by Lady Gaga. Static Noyze performed Lady Gaga’s Beautiful, Dirty, Rich where the bubble costume brought the entire act together. The Lady Gaga’s bubble costume was simply fashioned from our very popular acrylic ornaments, which has proven to be a versatile item. There were no eliminations during this episode due to voting issues. At the end of the show, the judges chose the best performance to receive immunity from the double-elimination following episode.

A few of us attended this year’s Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability conference and wow did we learn a lot! Talk about an overwhelming three days of information. The conference featured 40 something expert speakers, who all spoke on how to improve web site design and user usability experience. There were several “mom and pop”, and such places, learning to improve their sites with basic how-to’s but there were also large and even huge companies such as Footlocker and GNC. I was shocked to see that even these large companies still had many things to improve on their websites. Just goes to show, there is always room for improvement, whether you’re large or small. We were also lucky enough to have two 30 minute one-on-one consultations with some of these experts who reviewed our site and made suggestions on how to improve it. So let’s just say we have a lot of new and exciting things coming up in the future for our website!

While we got suggestions from the experts, we would like to know what our customers want in a website. If you would like, please take a moment to fill out this brief survey and tell us what your thoughts are. Thank you in advance for your time and participation! Your feedback is very important to us and everyone that participates will receive a coupon code at the end of the survey for a $5 coupon toward a future purchase!

Two of our buyers, Shari and Paul, were in Atlanta, Georgia looking for new products for our customers. While they were in Atlanta they were lucky enough to have some time to stop by Scott’s Antique Market, where they were able to spend time, learning shopping tips from Eddie Ross! You may remember Eddie from the HGTV blog post where he showed us how to make ornaments using old shirts. Ross, led the group on an amazing tour, through the antique market, looking at previously selected booths. The first stop was furniture, both upholstered and wood could be seen. During this time Ross showed how one could take a piece, restore it and paint it, and by doing so create a unique accent that no one else will have.
As they progressed from booth to booth, many items were passed, each with their own unique suggestions by Ross. For example, why not take old vintage linens, napkins…etc and mix them with new items. Doing this you can create a unique look by accenting the old with the new. Even better, what if you have a vintage rug that has seen better days? It was suggested one could use the undamaged parts to make pillows or even frame it for a unique piece of art.
Another favorite booth was Haute, who specializes in trim and fabric. These too can be turned into pillows or used for covering small objects. However, by far the most fascinating booth was the “silver booth”, which included Tiffany Flatware and other vintage items. One piece in particular was astounding, a Tiffany Dessert Set, placed within the 1800’s, was priced at $49,000! And another was priced at $100,000! The booth could only be described by one word, decadent!
After the day was winded down, and after listening to many of Ross’s information tips, it is safe to say we are addicted to both Eddie Ross and Scott’s Antique Market. We can’t wait to do it all again, and hope you enjoy mixing and matching the old with the new to create a style you can call your own!

We had over 2,000 coloring books, pencil cases, and erasers to donate. We narrowed our choices down after our first appearance on our local news station, WDTN. It was very hard to choose from the many request we received, but we finally narrowed it down for kid’s in Afghanistan, Children’s Medical Center, and a native American Indian reservation. We are already looking for items to be donated next year and we hope we get can continue the gift giving. Do you know of a charity or know of a group that is in need? Please let us know!

We had over 2000 coloring books, pencil cases, and erasers to give away, but we had no one to give them to. We emailed our local news at WDTN to see if we could get any responses from their viewers. Jim Bucher stated he has never seen such a response in his 25 years of being at the news station. Jim’s voicemail was completely full, which held 50 messages, and he received over 75 emails! We weren’t expecting such a response and wish we could have helped everyone that was in need. We have narrowed it to groups. I will post an update blog so that you can see the reactions and the delivery of the gifts! We hope this will become an annual event and we have already started looking for things to donate next year! Do you know of a charity or know of a group that is in need? Please let us know!

How do you go from bare concrete to setting up a great display for your festival, craft fair or even your local flea market? FactoryDirectCraft.com has done many craft fairs and festivals. As the company has grown we have quit doing them all except for one. Every second week in September, for almost 20 years, we have done the Preble County Pork Festival. We started out setting up in a tent and have progressed to what we think is the best spot at the Pork Festival! You can find us in the “Chicken Barn” every September. When people walk into our booth they often ask, “How do you set up your booth? How do you get it to look like this? We think part of the success of our sales at the festival is based on one basic thing…preparation! The main thing we have found is that we keep a note book of changes we can make, and any other notes we may find helpful at next years show. Here are a few basic display tips:

1. Start planning ahead…way way ahead!
You should start planning for the next festival on the last afternoon of your event while you are tearing down from the current show. While it is still fresh in your mind you should be able to make note of what items sold best, what displays provided the most sales, did you like how certain displays were set up, and what comments did customers make on your displays and how you can improve.
2. It’s all about looks!
We find that part of the success of any festival is how the products are displayed. You know… you have been in the booth where every item is lined up in a row. How boring! Make your displays interesting. Since many of our items are primitives, country and vintage looking we like to used old found items for props in our displays.

Old worn wooden boxes and crates are our favorite. We found these boxes years ago. These antique folding boxes fold flat and make for easy for storing from year to year. We found some of this type box at a local flea markets and also on Ebay. Boxes can become storage containers for certain items or be turned on their side and ends to become part of the display. Smaller wood boxes can be used to sit products in or on. You can group items together, placing them at different heights by using boxes to elevate.

Step ladders make interesting displays too. The steps become small shelves for a variety of items. You can also use the ladder to hang longer products. Old rung ladders are also work well for displaying longer items, simply drape over each step or hang down the length of the ladder.

Another one of our favorite display items is an old chippy paint door and old wood shutters we found. We have nails at different heights on the door. This allows us to display a variety of products. Doors not only give a great place to hang things from but also provides a break from any neighboring displays. The shutters also make wonderful display dividers and places to hang things from.

The plain boring folding banquet tables are easily transformed by covering the tables with basic painters drop cloths. The drop cloths provides a lot of natural muslin material at an inexpensive price. For splashes of color you can add scrap pieces of material, that you can find at any thrift store or flea market, on top of the painter’s drop cloth.

3. Always be on the lookout!
Be on the lookout for old items that normal people would easily discard. We have found great display items on Ebay, flea markets or even in the neighbors trash! People throw out the most interesting items… parts of old fences, worn and weathered doors, disregarded windows, and more. Most of all have fun with your display and as always learn from year to year how you can improve it for your next show.

Our MissionWe strive to provide the best products and customer service we can. We always seek to improve ourselves for the benefit of the customer and hope to provide the best shopping experience possible.